The Complete Guide to Unlocking (Not-Provided) Data in Google Analytics You can t manage what you can t measure
You definitely need to read this guide if you want to: Find out how not-provided data in Google Analytics impacts SEO Performance. Test creative ways to break down not provided keywords in Google Analytics. Discover an automated solution that fully reveals not provided data, evaluates SEO efforts, and improves SEO campaigns 2
The Search Landscape: more than 3.5 billion search queries performed in Google every day x 2.8 billion currently hidden by Google 3.5 billion searches/day 105 billion searches/month 1.2 trillion searches/year 3
1,600,000,000,000 Google Searches per Year Search queries Not provided search queries 1,200,000,000,000 800,000,000,000 400,000,000,000 0 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 * Source : Internet Live Stats With Google now hiding up to 80% of organic search queries, 2.8 billion searches are currently undisclosed to business owners. 4
People around the world are using search engines to discover products and services Percentage of people purchasing products/ services that used a search engine to do research before purchasing North America 34% Europe 45% Asia 36% South America 34% Africa 29% Oceania 36% * Source : Consumer Barometer Missed opportunities! Unlike you, these users know what they are looking for and that puts you at a disadvantage. 5
And a good percentage of these people buy products online Personal Appliances 12% Domestic Appliances 15% Books 29% Clothing & Accessories 13% CDs/ DVDs 25% Event tickets 43% Garden Equipement 6% Gifts, Flowers, Greetings 9% Toys 12% Footwear 8% Video Games 32% Sports equipement 14% Home & household goods 7% Home furnishing/ furniture 8% Mobile Phone Subscriptions 20% Audio Devices 25% Cinema Tickets 23% Computer Hardware 27% Digital Cameras 23% Computer Software 45% Visual Devices 17% Mobile Phones 20% Computer Peripherals 22% Hotel Stays 56% Business travel 55% Leisure Flights 65% Package Holidays 49% Car Insurance 21% Cosmetics 10% Health Products 9% * Source : Consumer Barometer This is the percentage of potential clients you might be missing. Because you don t know what they are searching for. 6
Google Not-Provided or the end of keyword data Any website owner looks at Google Analytics for visitor trends and behavior data. Bloggers, company and government website managers, advertising agencies rely on Google Analytics for statistics that will help them better and more specifically target their audience. And what better way to find that out other than knowing what Internet users are searching for? It s just that Google Analytics does not share that with you anymore. Instead, it hides it under not provided. 7
How it all started The first step: On October 18th 2011, invoking privacy issues, Google officially announced the decision to encrypt organic searches. When a search is made on a secure Google webpage and the result is clicked, the search term would no longer pass to the destination website. As a result, many deriving visits were encrypted under not provided. The second step: On September 23rd 2013, Google announced the use of SSL encrypted search for all users, meaning that keyword level data for non-paid traffic will no longer be provided. Here is Google s statement at the time: We added SSL encryption for our signed-in search users in 2011, as well as searches from the Chrome Omnibox earlier this year. We re now working to bring this extra protection to more users who are not signed in. Be that as it may, this worry is no longer valid when results are paid for. Because in the case of paid ads, Google Analytics grants webmasters access to full keyword data reports. 18 October 2011 23 September 2013 100% 50% 25% 2011 2012 2013 2014 8
What Not-Provided means for your business You can t manage what you can t measure Lack of Keyword data insights The first thing you notice is that your list of keywords under Organic Traffic is shrinking. You are probably seeing just a few keywords that bring visits to your website and you are losing relevant insights that would help increase your business. 7464 Keywords 5761 Keywords 9
The risk of making the wrong decisions Relying on the keyword data that is still visible in your Analytics may lead to the wrong decisions. On account of fragmented visibility, you will most likely make assumptions on keyword performance and build inaccurate campaigns. elegant dresses keyword performance is also reflected under not-provided Missleading Organic Traffic : Inability to separate SEO efforts from Branding activities With most keywords falling under not-provided, you cannot distinguish between those related to your brand (people that already know you) and those that bring you new visitors who are reaching your website while looking for solutions to their problems. 10
Impossibility to measure your SEO performance As long as you don t know if the keywords in your SEO campaigns are bringing you visits, transactions, and revenue, it s impossible to measure SEO performance and, implicitly, justify your budget and ROI. 11
Drawbacks in creating an SEO strategy If you re looking to increase SEO revenue, selecting the best performing keywords is crucial. To do so, you need to rely on historical data, such as keywords that already bring you transactions and revenue and increase their rankings. Without access to not provided data, you cannot prioritize such keywords and, therefore, are missing on valuable opportunities. 12
Can I break down not provided keywords in Google Analytics? With as much as 80% not-provided keywords in Google Analytics, webmasters found themselves forced to come up with some workarounds. If not to fully break down encrypted data, at least to put some pieces back in the puzzle. Here are the Google Analytics shortcuts that have been tested so far and you can try as well. Extracting conclusions on user behavior from Landing Page reports Search Engine Optimization Module in Google Analytics Solutions Examining AdWords data Analyzing Webmaster Tools 13
Solution #1 Extracting conclusions on user behavior from Landing Page reports Solution: By adding a new not provided Filter to your Profile in Google Analytics, you will be able to see where your traffic is going. Dan Barker details how to do that on econsultancy blog. How it works: It tracks down (not provided) search terms. It records the page the visitor landed on when searching for that specific term. It adds the landing page to your keywords report in Google Analytics, rather than just the vague (not provided). 14
The result: Disadvantages: It doesn t list the precise not provided keywords You can t distinguish between brand and non-brand keywords This doesn t apply to historical data, only to new visits Solution #2 Search Engine Optimization Module in Google Analytics Solution: By analyzing the Queries under the Search Engine Optimization area of your Google Analytics account, you will gain access to a minimal report on your queries. 15
How it works: To be able to access the report, you need to enable Google Webmasters Tools data in Google Analytics. Disadvantages: Unfortunately, this method only reveals your keywords and visits (clicks), but you don t have access to their performance (conversion rate, transactions, revenue). Solution #3 Examining AdWords data Solution: Of course you can always pay for Adwords and gain insights on what people are looking for. By creating a broad match keyword campaign, your ads will be displayed to people who use all kinds of variations of your main keyword. You can see the queries report under the Dimensions Tab, by selecting Search Terms. 16
Disadvantages: You will still not have the full picture, because Adwords will only show you the keywords you ve paid for, which can vary from organic keywords to a large extent. Solution #4 Analyzing Webmaster Tools Solution: Google s Webmaster Tools reveals your keyword data as well as their rankings and clicks (visits). How it works: To access the graph, go to the Traffic menu and look under the Search Queries option. Disadvantages: As with the Search Engine Optimization Module, you don t have access to keyword performance in terms of conversion rate, transactions, and revenue. 17
Why none of these methods will fully solve your problem? Regardless of how much information they unveil, it s just not enough. You still need to extract and corroborate a lot of data to be able to draw your own conclusions. Other than that, in almost all methods, data is not historical, which means that they can t tell how your keywords performed in previous campaigns. Without a full overview on the SEO performance of your campaigns, how will you be able to set up a new one? Further more, how will you be able to ask for a new SEO budget, if you can t provide a fully accurate report on your SEO ROI? 18
the real solution to unlock your not-provided data You ve seen how hard it is to gather insights on the lost not-provided data. What you need is an automated solution that reveals easy- tounderstand data : all keywords performed by users to get to your site their performance in terms of visits, conversions, and revenue segmented brand and non brand queries to show you the real value of your SEO campaign That s what SEO monitor does. And even more. 19
How it Works Corroborating data from your Google Analytics and Google Webmaster Tools accounts, SEOmonitor reveals what s hiding behind the not provided keywords in Google Analytics. Google Webmaster Tools Google Analytics Keyword Keyword Keyword Keyword Keyword Clicks Clicks Clicks Clicks Clicks Landing page Visits Conversions Revenue Visits Conversions Revenue Visits Conversions Revenue Visits Conversions Revenue Visits Conversions Revenue SEOmonitor Keyword Visits Conversions Revenue Keyword Visits Conversions Revenue Keyword Visits Conversions Revenue Keyword Visits Conversions Revenue Keyword Visits Conversions Revenue SEO monitor is AHA Automatic it s a big data processor Historical it offers historic data Accurate it aggregates Google data 20
Discover your not provided keywords The Organic Traffic dashboard fully discloses your organic search results. With information such as the number of visits, transactions, and revenue for each keyword, you are now able to analyze the performance of your SEO campaigns. Brand and Non Brand Segmentation As we mentioned before, the organic traffic can be split in brand related keywords that translate in direct traffic (the users intention is to reach your site directly) and non brand searches which is the real organic traffic generated by your website visibility in Google. With SEOmonitor, you can now understand and segment your brand from non brand traffic and assess more accurately your branding activities as well as your SEO campaign. 21
You can use the Filter function to break down visits, transactions, and revenue for three use-cases: your entire non-brand keyword list your entire brand keyword list all keywords (brand & non-brand keywords) Your keyword reports cannot get more accurate than this. Historical Data With SEOmonitor, you can analyze your not-provided data historically, by selecting various time intervals. 22
Want to learn more about SEOmonitor? Sign up for a free trial or contact us for a customized guided tour of the application. By signing up, you will discover how to : disclose Not Provided data segment your Brand and Non-brand Traffic understand your real SEO performance manage your SEO Campaign monitor your Daily Keyword Rankings make better decisions with the Keyword Opportunity feature see Sales Forecasts for each keyword check your Visibility Score compare your site s visibility and traffic with all of your competitors monitor your Brand Reputation in Google You can try all its amazing features for free. 14 days free trial 23